


What Now?

by Toshi_Nama



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, So much unsaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22211230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toshi_Nama/pseuds/Toshi_Nama
Summary: Divine Justinia had asked her to get the Grand Cleric from Kirkwall and to safety. Leliana couldn't convince her, and then it was too late.Who could the Left Hand confide in?She had always had unexpected friends.
Relationships: Isabela/Leliana
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	What Now?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweettasteofbitter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweettasteofbitter/gifts).



Leliana drove her fist into the wall. The wood thudded and her knuckles throbbed in time with her heart. At least  _ something  _ did what it was supposed to. Something _ happened _ the way it was supposed to.

“Was that really necessary, Nightingale?”

She snarled at the rich voice, but not too fiercely. After all, it  _ was  _ her ship. After a long moment, her eyes closed, she turned around to look at the other woman in the captain’s luxurious cabin. There may not have been much space, but there was plenty of luxury. The lounging captain was almost lost among the silks, satins, gold, rich velvets, and various bejeweled daggers strewn haphazardly about.

“No,” she sighed, “but it helped.”

One tall black boot hit the floor, then the other. Isabela stood up from her hammock and walked over. “What is it? You brought your warning. You did your best. Why worry about the past?”

Why worry?  _ Why worry?  _ Leliana bit her tongue. As much as she and the pirate had found...comfort in each other, they were very different women. Isabela had never cared about politics, had not been concerned about what she needed to do for Justinia.  _ Oh, Justinia. How do I tell you this? _

“Because of what the past means for the future, Isabela. The world is not so straightforward, and this one action could shake everything the Divine has been working toward.” Unfortunately, the current Grand Enchanter was...not one known for patience or forethought. This one action - it could destroy  _ everything.  _ “It will be terrible if it is not stopped.”

Isabela shrugged. “Then there will be plenty to do.”

That was enough to make her turn and meet the lovely gold eyes of the...admittedly more lovely woman who’d lent her ship to Leliana’s cause. “Do you never wish for more, Isabela? Is there nothing you’ve sought, no meaning that would bring direction to your life?”

One finger ran along Leliana’s cheek from temple to lip. It was all she could do to not react, not kiss that finger, not lean in for more. 

“Why would I need something like that?”

Despite her casual, sultry voice, Isabela’s eyes flickered down and away for a moment as she spoke. There was no crinkle of amusement around her eyes, no curl of her lip. The thousand-and-one tells that Marjolaine had once taught her to look for...some of them, Isabela had not managed to erase from her own face.

This mattered to her.

Even if she’d never admit it.

Then again, there were reasons Leliana found excuses to come to Kirkwall over the past years. There was a reason she’d slipped enough coin that the pirate was able to buy the sloop for a song, and others for why she’d been able to get what she needed to make it seaworthy again.

So long as no one forced her to admit it, the pirate queen  _ cared.  _

“Sometimes, it’s a comfort. It is a vision to follow - or even, gently, to rebel against.”  _ That  _ made Isabela’s lips quirk, that lovely half-smile Leliana hadn’t been able to resist so many years ago. “It helps to know that the less fortunate have their own spirit to guard them, one that won’t haunt their dreams.”

“The things you say…” Isabela chuckled as her hand slipped behind Leliana’s neck and pulled her in for a kiss. “I have everything I could want, right here.”

**

The conversation, such as it was, continued later. At least this later’s red glow came from a bloody sunrise rather than the buildings of the city encircling the deep harbor.

“Not everyone wants to follow, Nightingale.”

‘Nightingale’ for how sweetly she sang - it was enough to make her blush, but not while skin was pressed against warm skin, rocking in the hammock just large enough for two. Leliana closed her eyes, breathing in the scents of rum, cinnamon, and salt that were simply a part of nights passed with Isabela.

“No, not everyone wants to follow - but many do. It is why we need others to be able to choose their own courses.”

‘We.’

“I won’t work for the Divine.”

Leliana giggled - something she hadn’t thought she’d be able to do, not after coming back in time to see what had happened. “Of course not! That would be preposterous - Justinia’s reputation would be in tatters!”

_ What now? _

So much was said without being said - it was more comfortable that way. Besides, in a way Isabela was right: all one could do was keep going. Oh, she could choose to give up, but neither of them were the kind to do that.

It wasn’t until Leliana had slipped back into her breeches and shirt that anything else was said. “Rialto will need to know - the vineyards are quite prolific.”

“They are, aren’t they. It  _ has  _ been a while.”

Leliana left the scroll addressed to the Grand Cleric on Isabela’s table. Propped between the bottle of rum and a gold-leafed jewelry chest, it was drab and impossible to miss.

She had no doubt where Isabela’s course would take her - so long as she never quite asked.


End file.
